Description

Urban parks and green spaces are recognized for provided wide-ranging benefits for city residents and urban environments. Research has addressed the impact these spaces have on health and well-being, climate change adaptation, urban biodiversity, ecosystem services, social interaction and cohesion, housing and property valuation, heritage value, and education.

Interdisciplinary scholars have examined urban sustainability and the role of urban infrastructure in contributing to sustainable, liveable cities, with urban parks and green spaces presented largely as beneficial, with little downsides. Yet, despite this, cities and regions continue to wrestle with providing and managing these spaces for the 21st-century city.

Papers in these sessions will examine the challenges surrounding planning and providing for urban parks and green spaces. This includes critiquing governance structures, challenging existing ways of thinking about green-space planning and contesting an anthropogenic approach to urban greening. Papers also will explore opportunities for connecting research’s recognized benefits of urban parks and green space to the practice of park and green space planning. We welcome papers that highlight case studies, including those from an international perspective.

Each session will consist of four paper sessions (15-min presentations + 5 min Q&A), followed by a 20-minute discussion with the presenters. Thus, presenters should stay through the end of their session to participate in the discussion.

If interested in participating, please send an abstract of no more than 250 words and your personal identification number (received from the AAG after applying online at www.aag.org) to all organizers by October 25, 2017.